U.S. patent number 10,927,456 [Application Number 16/447,225] was granted by the patent office on 2021-02-23 for reaction chamber for vapor deposition apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to HERMES-EPITEK CORP.. The grantee listed for this patent is Hermes-Epitek Corp.. Invention is credited to Chien-Chin Chiu, Tsan-Hua Huang, Komeno Junji, Yu-Sheng Liang, Suda Noboru, Oishi Takahiro.
United States Patent |
10,927,456 |
Liang , et al. |
February 23, 2021 |
Reaction chamber for vapor deposition apparatus
Abstract
A reaction chamber for vapor deposition apparatus, comprises a
susceptor to carry substrates, a ceiling, an upper cavity, and
protrusions. The ceiling comprises a front surface faces the
substrates and comprises front convex parts and front concave parts
with an interlaced arrangement to form a convex-concave surface.
The ceiling also comprises a rear surface opposites to the front
surface and comprises rear convex parts and rear concave parts
corresponded to the front concave parts and the front convex parts
respectively. The upper cavity opposites to the rear surface and
separated to the rear convex parts to define a first flow channel.
The protrusions are disposed in the rear concave parts and
separated to a side wall and a bottom wall of the rear concave
parts to define a second flow channel which is connected to the
first flow channel to introduce a cooling fluid.
Inventors: |
Liang; Yu-Sheng (Hsinchu,
TW), Chiu; Chien-Chin (Tainan, TW), Huang;
Tsan-Hua (Tainan, TW), Takahiro; Oishi
(Sagamihara, JP), Noboru; Suda (Kyoto, JP),
Junji; Komeno (Kanagawa, JP) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Hermes-Epitek Corp. |
Taipei |
N/A |
TW |
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Assignee: |
HERMES-EPITEK CORP. (Taipei,
TW)
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Family
ID: |
1000005376580 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/447,225 |
Filed: |
June 20, 2019 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20200017964 A1 |
Jan 16, 2020 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 21, 2018 [TW] |
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107121309 A |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
C23C
16/4411 (20130101); C23C 16/4583 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
C23C
16/44 (20060101); C23C 16/458 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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552315 |
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Sep 2003 |
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TW |
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WO-2012/139006 |
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Oct 2012 |
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WO |
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Other References
Search Report of TW Application No. 107121309, completed on Feb.
11, 2019, 2 pages. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Yu; Yuechuan
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Muncy, Geissler, Olds & Lowe,
P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A reaction chamber for a vapor deposition apparatus, comprising:
a susceptor to carry substrates; a ceiling, comprising: a front
surface, facing the substrates, comprising front convex parts and
front concave parts with an interlaced arrangement to form a
convex-concave surface, wherein each of the front concave parts is
configured to be a flow channel; and a rear surface, opposite to
the front surface, comprising rear convex parts and rear concave
parts corresponding to the front concave parts and the front convex
parts respectively; an upper cavity, facing the rear surface and
separated from the rear convex parts to define a first flow
channel; and protrusions are disposed in the rear concave parts and
separated from a side wall and a bottom wall of the rear concave
parts to define a second flow channel which is connected to the
first flow channel to introduce a cooling fluid.
2. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein the rear convex parts
and the rear concave parts are radially arranged outward from a
center of the ceiling.
3. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein a width of the front
concave parts (Channel zone) is greater than or equal to a width of
the front convex parts (Bar zone).
4. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein each of the protrusions
has a slanted side facing a center of the ceiling, and a distance
between the slanted side and the side wall of the rear concave
parts gradually increases as approaching the bottom wall of the
rear concave parts to form an inclined groove.
5. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein the protrusions are
detachably disposed on the upper cavity.
6. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein the upper cavity and
the protrusions have a third flow channel, and the third flow
channel is connected to the first flow channel.
7. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein the upper cavity and
the protrusions are one-piece-formed.
8. The reaction chamber of claim 1, further comprising a block that
is disposed on at least one of the rear concave parts and the
protrusions to determine a size of the second flow channel.
9. The reaction chamber of claim 1, further comprising a shim that
is disposed between the rear concave parts and the protrusions to
determine a size of the second flow channel.
10. The reaction chamber of claim 1, further comprising a block
that is disposed on at least one of the rear convex parts and the
upper cavity to determine a size of the first flow channel.
11. The reaction chamber of claim 1, further comprising an
adjusting element that protrudes from at least one of the rear
surface and the upper cavity to adjust a size of the first flow
channel.
12. The reaction chamber of claim 11, wherein the adjusting element
comprises a screw.
13. The reaction chamber of claim 1, wherein the upper cavity
further comprises a cooling pipe.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates to a reaction chamber for a vapor
deposition apparatus, and especially to a reaction chamber of
reducing a ceiling temperature difference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In modern semiconductor industry, a vapor deposition is employed to
grow a thin film. In a conventional (planetary type) MOCVD reactor,
a ceiling having a concavo-convex parts shape has been used for
heat dissipation, as shown in FIG. 1. The surface of the ceiling 2
in FIG. 1, facing the substrate W, comprises front convex parts 200
and front concave parts 202. The front convex parts 200 is solid,
so the thickness of the ceiling is not uniform, i.e. the thicker
front convex parts 200 and the thinner front concave parts 202.
During vapor deposition, one end of the ceiling 2 facing the
substrate W is operating at an extremely high temperature, and
another end is cooling via a cooling device 3 or a cooling flow to
avoid the non-necessary pre-reaction.
However, the ceiling shown in FIG. 1 have different heat
dissipation efficiencies at different positions because the
non-uniform thickness. For instance, the heat dissipation
efficiency of the front convex parts 200 is low and high for front
concave parts 202 relatively. Different heat dissipation efficiency
causes a larger temperature difference between the upper and lower
parts of the ceiling. For instance, the temperature difference
exceeds 30.degree. C. or above will incur a non-uniform stress over
the ceiling, and that may break the ceiling.
It is the topic to solve the problem of large temperature
difference between the upper and lower parts of the ceiling without
affecting the vapor deposition process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure provides a reaction chamber for a vapor
deposition apparatus, and the reaction chamber is designed to have
a ceiling with uniform or near-uniform thickness. The flow space
between the ceiling and the upper cavity can be adjusted cavity to
have a un-obstacle flow channel and heat dissipation to reduce the
temperature difference of the ceiling.
A reaction chamber according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure comprises a susceptor for carrying substrates, a
ceiling, an upper cavity, and protrusions. The front surface of the
ceiling, facing the substrates, comprises front convex parts and
front concave parts in an interlace arrangement to form a
convex-concave surface. Each of the front concave parts is used as
a gas channel. The rear surface of ceiling can be understood to
have rear convex parts and rear concave parts corresponding to the
front concave parts and the front convex parts of the front surface
respectively. An upper cavity is disposed opposite to the rear
surface of the ceiling, and each of the rear convex parts of the
rear surface forms a first flow channel. Protrusions are disposed
in the rear concave parts of the rear surface and separated to a
side wall and a bottom wall, and the space of the rear concave
parts forms a second flow channel, which is connected to the first
flow channel for introducing a cooling fluid.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Various embodiments are depicted in the accompanying drawings for
illustrative purposes, and should in no way be interpreted as
limiting the scope of the embodiments. Various features of
different disclosed embodiments can be combined to form additional
embodiments, which are part of this disclosure. The foregoing
aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the present
disclosure will become more readily appreciated as the same become
better understood by reference to the following detailed
description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
conventional reaction chamber for a vapor deposition apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a top view of a ceiling
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of the
ceiling of FIG. 2 taken along line A-A'.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
reaction chamber according to an embodiment of the present
disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
reaction chamber according to another embodiment of the present
disclosure.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
reaction chamber according to another embodiment of the present
disclosure.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
reaction chamber according to another embodiment of the present
disclosure.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of a
reaction chamber according to another embodiment of the present
disclosure.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a cross-sectional view of the
ceiling of FIG. 2 taken along line B-B'.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the reaction chamber of an
embodiment of the present disclosure comprises: a susceptor 1, a
ceiling 2, an upper cavity 3, and protrusions 4. The susceptor 1 is
used to carry substrates W. The front surface 20 of the ceiling 2,
facing the substrates W, comprises front convex parts 200 and front
concave parts 202 with an interlaced arrangement to form a
convex-concave surface. Each of the front concave parts 202 is used
as a gas channel. The rear surface 22 of the ceiling 2, opposites
to the front surface 20, comprises rear convex parts 220 and rear
concave parts 222 corresponding to the front concave parts 202 and
the front convex parts 200, as shown in FIG. 2.
The rear convex parts 220 and the rear concave parts 222 of the
rear surface 22 are radially arranged outward from a center of the
ceiling 2. As described above, the front concave parts 202
corresponding to the rear convex parts 220, and the front convex
parts 200 corresponding to the rear concave parts 222, so the
thickness of the ceiling 2 is uniform, i.e. the thickness of the
ceiling 2 is made uniform or near-uniform, as shown in FIG. 3. It
should be noted that the number of the front concave parts 202 and
the front convex parts 200 should not be limited by the drawings,
which can be designed to have two to more depending on the
requirements. In addition, in one embodiment, the front concave
parts 202 and the front convex parts 200 is designed to be
symmetrical and evenly distributed over the ceiling 2, that is, the
width of the front concave parts 202 may be equal to the front
convex parts 200. In another embodiment, the front concave parts
202 and the front convex parts 200 may be unevenly distributed on
the ceiling 2. For instance, the width of the front concave parts
202 may be greater than the front convex parts 200.
In one embodiment, the reaction chamber further comprises an upper
cavity 3, opposites to the rear surface of the ceiling 2. The upper
cavity 3 may comprise a cooling pipe for reducing the temperature
difference between the upper and lower parts of the ceiling 2. The
upper cavity 3 separated to each rear convex part 220 forms a first
flow channel G1. Protrusions 4 may be disposed in the rear concave
parts 222, separated to a side wall 224 and a bottom wall 226 of
the rear concave parts 222 and each forms a second flow channel G2,
which is connected to the first flow channel G1 to introduce a
cooling fluid. For instance, the hydrogen can be introduced into
the first flow channel G1 and/or the second flow channel G2 to
facilitate the heat dissipation of the ceiling 2.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the protrusions 4 could
be designed to protruded from the upper cavity 3, i.e. one-piece
structure, as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, in another embodiment
of the present disclosure, the protrusions 4 are detachably
disposed on the upper cavity 3, as shown in FIG. 4. In addition, in
an embodiment of the present disclosure, a space is disposed
between the upper cavity 3 and the protrusions 4 to form a third
flow channel G3, and the third flow channel G3 is connected to the
first flow channel G1 to introduce the cooling fluid to pass
through the first flow channel G1 and the third flow channel G3 to
enhance heat dissipation.
It should be noted that a size of each flow channel in the reaction
chamber of the present disclosure can be adjusted as needed, please
refer to FIG. 5 to FIG. 8. According to an embodiment of the
present disclosure, the reaction chamber may further comprise a
block 50 disposed between one of the rear concave parts 222 of the
rear surface 22 at least and the protrusions 4, and a size of the
second flow channel G2 may be determined by the thickness of the
block 50, as shown in FIG. 5. According to another embodiment of
the present disclosure, the reaction chamber may further comprise a
shim 6, which may be disposed between one of the rear concave parts
222 at least and the protrusions 4, and the size of the second flow
channel G2 may be determined by the thickness of the shim 6, as
shown in FIG. 6. According to another embodiment of the present
disclosure, the reaction chamber may further comprise a block 52
disposed on at least one of the rear convex parts 220 and the upper
cavity 3, and the thickness of the block 52 may determine a size of
the first flow channel; G1, as shown in FIG. 7. According to a
further embodiment of the present disclosure, the reaction chamber
may further comprise an adjustable element 7 which may protrude
from at least one of the rear surface 22 and the upper cavity 3, as
shown in FIG. 8. The adjustable element 7 may comprise a screw to
adjust the size of the first flow channel G1.
In one embodiment, each of the protrusions 4 may have a slanted
side 40, as shown in FIG. 9, which is a schematic view showing a
cross-sectional view of the ceiling of FIG. 2 taken along line
B-B'. The slanted side 40 faces the center of the ceiling 2, and a
distance between the slanted side 40 and the side wall 224 of the
rear concave parts 222 may gradually increase as approaching the
bottom wall 226 of the rear concave parts 222 to form an inclined
groove. The inclined groove allows the cooling fluid to evenly
enter into each flow channel. In addition, the space created by the
shape of the inclined groove is able to reduce the heat
transformation from the ceiling 2 to the upper cavity 3, and as a
result to increase the temperature near the ceiling center, as a
result to reduce the temperature difference between the upper and
lower surfaces at the center of the ceiling 2.
In summary, the reaction chamber for a vapor deposition apparatus
of the present disclosure has a ceiling having uniform or
near-uniform thicknesses. According to configuration, the front
concave parts and the rear convex parts and front convex parts and
the rear concave parts are corresponded to reduce the temperature
difference between the upper and lower parts of the ceiling, and
avoid to break the ceiling due to large temperature difference. In
addition, the reaction chamber for the vapor deposition apparatus
of the present disclosure has a uniform space between the ceiling
and the upper cavity by the arrangement of the protrusions, thereby
the cooling fluid flows evenly in the channel to dissipate heat. It
can effectively dissipate heat and reduce the temperature
difference of the ceiling without using a large amount of cooling
fluid, and reduce the cost of the process.
The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the
technical spirit and features of the present disclosure, and are
intended to enable those skilled in the art to understand the
present disclosure and exploit the present disclosure. The scope of
the claim, that is, the equivalent changes or modifications made by
the spirit of the present disclosure, should still be included in
the scope of the claim of the present disclosure.
* * * * *